Fall for Hall: dust off that linen, sparky

When a team is as profoundly flawed as the Edmonton Oilers are, symbolism only goes so far. Still, as I watched the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Oilers 6-4 for fun Saturday, I couldn’t help but think a little bit couldn’t hurt right now.

Every time CBC’s camera’s panned the Oilers brass box at the Air Canada Centre to show president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe, GM Steve Tambellini and scout Morey Gare in various degrees of chagrin over the embarrassment that is their hockey club, I thought about what Lowe should do now that 30th place is secure.

His resignation aside (won’t happen, no matter how much evidence there is that it should), Lowe could at least make a symbolic gesture between now and training camp next year. Call it a move signifying this franchise is looking to the future instead of clinging to fading glories of the past. A passing of the torch, if you will.

Assuming the NHL draft lottery doesn’t go sideways, the Oilers keep the No. 1 pick in June and they select Taylor Hall — I believe he’s the guy they want just a tick ahead of centre Tyler Seguin — Lowe should tell equipment man Lyle Kulchisky to pull his No. 4 jersey out of mothballs.

Then, Lowe should give it to the kid.

Pass it on

Hall wears No. 4 for the Windsor Spitfires, and it’s a number he’s worn for Team Canada in international competition. While an oldtimer like me thinks that’s a goofy choice for a forward, it’s Hall’s digit of choice, at least in recent seasons — he wore No. 19 for several seasons before graduating to the OHL.

It’s also, as everybody knows, the number Lowe wore during his playing career with the Oilers. Lowe, the first ever player drafted by the Oilers, is the only player to wear it here. That should change.

While Lowe’s jersey has never been officially retired by the Oilers, let’s just say it hasn’t been available to other players since he hung up his skates. Sparky’s never pulled No. 4 off the rack and said, "Here, kid. Try this on for size." Same with Mark Messier’s No. 11, which hangs in the rafters at Rexall Place, Al Hamilton’s No. 3 and, of course, No. 99.

Call it a sign of reverence and respect, and there’s certainly a place for that, but numbers worn by Messier and Lowe were never made available even before they were officially retired, although others worn by great Edmonton players have been.

A new era

Likewise Grant Fuhr, who shared No. 31 with Curtis Joseph, Fred Brathwaite and Eddie Mio. Jarri Kurri’s No. 17 has been worn by Scott Thornton, Cam Connor and Rem Murray, who gave it up when the great Finn’s linen was lifted to the rafters.

Obviously, Lowe offering his number to Hall won’t fill the holes on the roster. It won’t make the goaltending or the penalty killing better. It won’t convince anybody to take Ethan Moreau, like a buy-out might. It won’t make Shawn Horcoff’s contract a bargain or change the fact this team has missed the playoffs for four straight seasons.

But, as symbolism goes, having the first player ever drafted by the Oilers pass on his number to a kid who has a chance to be this franchise’s next great player could signify a real change in philosophy.

By letting go of a dusty convention, Lowe could show fans this is an organization willing to resist clinging to a reverence for the now-distant Boys on the Bus era and embrace the promise of the future.

That’s long overdue.

Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.

119 Comments |

If Montreal can put up 2 #12's in the Rafter then why not us when we turn this mess around and get a few more cups on the wall.
he will have earned it.
I say give him the #4 at the Draft and wait and see when he along with Lowe have their numbers hung up like Ivan in Montreal.

The whole giving the #4 to Hall is fun and all to discuss, but this is the Oilers here, why do I and so many others have this angst that some dumb unforeseen situation arises and the Oilers end up with pick 3,4 or 5? (I am really trying to be optimistic, really I am)

If the Oilers end up last overall, and end up losing the lottery,who is to say that Tambellini doesn't give up our first rounder,one of our 2nd rounders in this years draft,and Cogliano for the first overall pick.I think the organization will have to get the number 1 overall pick either by winning the draft or trade.It would just be another major kick in the balls, if the Oilers dont end up picking first, after the season we just had.

Which means we have to trade Penner at some point in the next few years. But his value is higher now than it will ever be. He might get better than he has been this season… but might not either. If the team is going to tank for a couple seasons anyway …

How about trade him this season to recuperate that 1,2 and 3 we gave up for him?

Robin great idea, although Kevin has many blunders against himself, when we lookover his management career, this would be a way to show just how classy a guy Kevin is as well as pass the torch to lead us in the new era.

I feel by watching what I seen of Taylor Hall he is exactly what this team needs, and has lacked for 20 yrs, a guy that can score a goal.
Taylor Hall will also be the one to get rid of the negativity that has devloped about playing in Edmonton.

Lets cross our fingers and toes, Lowe will pass on #4, so Taylor can bring us a bright and well deserved great future.

It's a good idea, could be a cool moment if they did it right on the draft stage.
You know do something cool and significant and then have Lowe give Hall the #4 jersey.
All the news stations would show that in their draft recap/coverage.
If he ends up being a great player we'd be seeing that footage for a long time.

I don`t want to hear Lowe or Tambellini say, `This is such an important decision for our franchise that I owe it to myself and to the fans to take a more active role in scouting and deciding on these players.`

I would rather hear them say, `we hire Stu to make those decisions, we trust him and his decision on this one a lot more than we would trust our own. We hire him to be the expert on this`.

Even with a last place finish there is only a 48% chance of getting the 1st overall pick. So shouldn't this Hall/Seguin debate actually be deciding who to chose with the #2 pick. In the fall it was Hall, Seguin, & Fowler as possible #1 picks. Has Fowler fallen so far that there is no debate left between who to chose at be it Hall/Fowler or Seguin/Fowler?

I think moving forward is a great idea but rather than the jersey number can we ditch the orange and blue classic jerseys already? It's just another sign that we're trying to live on past glories rather than building something new.

We have been rebuilding/retooling for last 3-4 seasons through the draft already , and where are we today – 30th place . So much for something new ! Better hope this years draft picks pan out faster and better than last 4 years of so called blue chippers .

Edmonton hasn't been re-building for the last 3 years, they've just sucked.When you sign FAs to big contract (Penner, Souray) and go after FA (Nylander, Healty) your not rebuilding you're looking to win.

What Oiler prospect in the last 4 years has been considered a "blue chipper"?

They area all nice prospects to have, but they were drafter at 6th (Gagner) 11th (MPS) and 22nd (Eberle). I don't think any of them were not considered blue chip. Ganger stock soared after he was drafted at the superseries and Eberle has made a name for himself post-draft in the world juniors. I don't think many here expected any of them to be can miss when they were drafted and less whould have expected them to jump in imdeiately to make an impact.

I'm not saying they aren't good prospects. I am saying that they weren't blue chippers. So when madjam makes a statement like "Better hope this years draft picks pan out faster and better than last 4 years of so called blue chippers" He's wrong. We knew these guys would take time when Edmonton drafted them.

I was just saying, those 3 guys have been considered "Blue Chippers" within the last 4 years. Yes, Eberle has earned that post-draft, but MPS was pegged to go well before he did when we grabbed him. When MPS slipped I remember guys like Maguire freaking out (as he usually does).

So yeah, they didnt all start as blue chippers, but since we started missing the playoffs the Oilers have managed to draft pretty well despite actually trying to be a good team.

If the Oilers have slowly been falling from 8th in the west to the bottom of the league, then on the way down they've managed to pick up some good players in the draft. That's part of the reason why I dont think the rebuild will take 5+ years to do. This isnt like Calgary, where the cupboards are literally bare. The Oilers already have a good group of prospects and young NHL players that are coming up.*

I don't disagree at all with what you are saying. The drafting has been very good lately and I do believe there is hope for the future.

However I disagree that any one of the Oilers draft choice was a blue chip prospect and should have stepping in and made an immediate impact. I believe that they are all progressing as they were expected to (if not faster) which is why I called out madjam when he "Better hope this years draft picks pan out faster and better than last 4 years of so called blue chippers"

Look at the history before you write garbage like this. In 2007 Mikael Backlund, David Perron & Max Pacioretty are the only guys selected after Nash & Plante that have even played in the league. Nobody selected after Eberle has played a game in the league yet. We didn't have a pick higher because of the Penner signing.

It's a little early to write off kids who haven't even played in the NHL. Tough to write Plante off after what 2 games?!?!

You might want to add Plante and Nash to that list as well- the year we had 3 first rounders and gave up an early second rounder needlessly to obtain Nash in first round if i recall correctly . O'Mark perhaps ? Who knows for sure if Oilers will even keep Cogs/ Gagner going into next season seeing as they are RFA,s and are not resigned as yet ? Maybe, neither will even want to be . I'm just stating we have been in this rebuilding/retooling mode for a long time already without very much success . I have not written any of them off , but i don't see very many of them in our lineup and making much of a contribution to becoming a contender anytime soon either .

Add Plante and Nash? Both of them were considered projects when they were drafted. Do you even know what a bluechip prospect is?

"Blue chip" players have proven themselves to be amongst the best at their respective positions in their sports and are more sought after than other players. They are typically perceived as "can't miss" prospects who are desired by most organizations. Blue chip athletes are likely to have an immediate impact on teams that acquire them and have proven skills rather than speculative or untapped potential.

Now here are the write-ups of the various Oiler draft picks from the last 4 years. Not one of these players drafted was considered blue chip.

I think Barry Stafford should just give him #4 without even asking Lowe, it hasen't been retired for a reason to date i'm sure. The players are the most valued assets in the organization, the rest of the positions you can you hire the most qualified applicants.

There's so much support for the coaches (Usually 4 per team) and the GM.s now (assistant GM, capologists etc) it's time to get rid of these patronage positions, or is this another Semenko scenario we have going on here?

If Lowe had left the organization at the end of his career and stayed away I would have a totally different outlook on #4. The way he has wiped his ass since taking over as GM will maybe make Hall have second thoughts about inheriting the bad karma of that number. Lowe has ripped a huge whole in his reputation as far as I'm concerned.

Look at all the first rounders we have had thru the past 4-5 seasons and how many have been good successes including the ones we have traded for besides our own or gotten rid of. Pitkanen , Smid ,Torres , Lupul , O'Marra . Nilsson , Dubnyk, Schremp, Pouliot ,Grebs, R. Whitney ,etc.. Coupled with our own picks thats an awful lot of early first round picks that have not panned out very well considering . We have been this route for a long time already, and i'm sorry but i don't see a lot of success we are having . I haven't written them all off as some are inclined to believe – but i have not written to many in as yet , and wonder just how many will be shipped away before they develop and become an asset on a contending club .